Erik Menendez, one of the two real-life brothers depicted in Ryan Murphy‘s Netflix series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, has spoken out.
In an online statement posted on his wife Tammi Menendez’s X account, Menendez, who was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder along with his brother Lyle for killing their parents, said that the drama series perpetrated “ruinous character portrayals” of them both.
The statement also accused Murphy of having bad intent based on the way the story was told.
“It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent,” wrote Menendez in his statement.
Menendez, who is currently serving out a life sentence with his brother Lyle at the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California, called out the series for reviving “dishonest” narratives about their lives, accusing the series of misrepresentation of male trauma and sexual abuse.
He also expressed his disappointment with what he perceives as a step backward in understanding childhood trauma. After condemning the series for perpetuating damaging lies and slander, Menendez thanked those who have supported him and called for the truth to prevail.
In the graphic miniseries that depicts the 1996 murders, Javier Bardem plays the father, Jose Menendez, and Chloë Sevigny is cast as their mother, Kitty Menendez. Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch play their sons and killers, Lyle and Erik Menendez.
Decider’s Joel Keller says Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story takes a pretty familiar story and makes it compelling by shifting the narrative slightly and through some excellent performances. Read the full review here.
Below is the full statement from Menendez:
“I believed we had moved beyond the lies and ruinous character portrayals of Lyle, creating a caricature of Lyle rooted in horrible and blatant lies rampant in the show. I can only believe they were done so on purpose. It is with a heavy heart that I say, I believe Ryan Murphy cannot be this naive and inaccurate about the facts of our lives so as to do this without bad intent.
“It is sad for me to know that Netflix’s dishonest portrayal of the tragedies surrounding our crime have taken the painful truths several steps backward – back through time to an era when the prosecution built a narrative on a belief system that males were not sexually abused, and that males experienced rape trauma differently than women. Those awful lies have been disputed and exposed by countless brave victims over the last two decades who have broken through their personal shame and bravely spoken out. So now Murphy shapes his horrible narrative through vile and appalling character portrayals of Lyle and of me and disheartening slander.
“Is the truth not enough? Let the truth stand as the truth. How demoralizing to know that one man with power can undermine decades of progress in shedding light on childhood trauma. Violence is never an answer, never a solution, and is always tragic. As such, I hope it is never forgotten that violence against a child creates a hundred horrendous and silent crime scenes darkly shadowed behind glitter and glamor and rarely exposed until tragedy penetrates everyone involved. To all those who have reached out and supported me, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Erik Menendez
All nine episodes of MONSTERS: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story are currently available to stream on Netflix.
